Kevin Sinfield’s journey from rugby league icon to one of Britain’s most admired fundraisers has been driven by something far more powerful than sporting success — friendship.
The former Leeds Rhinos captain, 45, is set to receive a knighthood in the King’s Birthday Honours in recognition of his remarkable efforts to support Motor Neurone Disease charities, inspired by his late friend and team-mate Rob Burrow.
Since Burrow was diagnosed with the devastating condition in 2019, Sinfield has raised more than £11 million through a series of gruelling endurance challenges. Burrow tragically died in 2024 at the age of 41 after battling the disease for four and a half years.
Born in Oldham in 1980, Sinfield attended Saddleworth School and later joined Leeds Rhinos as a teenager. It was there that he met the man who would become his closest friend.
“We first met at a Rhinos squad session. Every player who had signed professionally trained one night a month together. I was 14 and Rob was 12. He was so quiet and shy, but so talented and quick,” Sinfield once recalled.
Reflecting on their years together, he added: “The time we have spent together in a dressing room and on the field. We sat next to one another for 15 years, 300 days a year. He is funny and loyal. We shared some really challenging moments in our careers and that gave us all a special bond.”
Sinfield enjoyed an illustrious career with Leeds Rhinos, winning seven Super League titles, two Challenge Cups and three World Club Challenges, while also representing England and Great Britain on the international stage.
But it was after Burrow’s diagnosis that his greatest achievements began.
In 2020, Sinfield launched his famous “7 in 7” challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days. What started with a target of £77,777 eventually raised more than £2 million.
He followed that with the Extra Mile Challenge, running 101 miles in 24 hours from Leicester to Leeds, before taking on multiple ultra-marathons across the UK and Ireland, raising millions more for MND charities.
One of the most emotional moments came in 2023, when Sinfield famously carried Burrow across the finish line of the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon.
Earlier that year, the pair were both appointed CBEs, with Prince William surprising them with the honours at Headingley Stadium.
Following Burrow’s death in June 2024, Sinfield paid a heartbreaking tribute to his lifelong friend.
“You will continue to inspire me every single day,” he said.
“I have lost a dear friend and I will never forget the special times we shared both on and off the pitch. I would always say that you were pound for pound the toughest player I ever played alongside, however since your diagnosis, you were the toughest and bravest man I have ever met.
“The last four and a half years you showed the world what living and loving looked like and this was always done with the biggest smile on your face. I will miss you my little mate.”
Despite raising millions, Sinfield insists the fight is far from over.
Announcing his seventh and final fundraising challenge, The Grand Finale, he revealed he will run around 30 miles a day between September and October, visiting all 12 Super League grounds before finishing at Old Trafford ahead of the Grand Final.
Speaking about the campaign, he said: “Our team have done a wonderful job. I couldn’t have done any of it without them.
“We couldn’t have done this on our own. The money has gone a long way and we’re getting closer and closer, but we’ve got to keep pushing, we’ve got to try and find a cure.”
For Kevin Sinfield, the knighthood may be one of the greatest honours of his life — but the mission inspired by his “little mate” continues.
